LarsenSeies

The mystery of Italian quartet Larsen begins with the tale of how Michael Gira (Swans/Angels of Light) came to produce their first album. The band sent him anonymous CD-Rs on the first and 21st of each month for a period before providing him the cash to travel to Italy and record them. In the 21 days they scheduled to create Rever (later released on Giras Young God label) they played from behind an opaque screen, never seeing or addressing Gira directly. Seies adopts the drone/crescendo structure of many contemporary bands and then quickly outstrips them. The album is held within the ominous, feverish parentheses of "The Snow and "Marzia, the latter featuring Brian Williams (Lustmord). The central tracks are crystalline and towering but etched with such diverse, fine detail that new facets reveal themselves with each slight repositioning. "Mother is an elegant swoon in the face of uniformed martial rhythms, while "Momi contains a section of balladic duets for accordion and a laptop full of bees. A Swans connection is kept current via Jarboes contribution of vocals and lyrics to a few songs. Whether or not Larsen ever peer out from behind their safety blanket is irrelevant, so long as they continue to produce such wonderful works.
(Important)